Franklin County's Boston Benson rears back to deliver a pitch during a game Friday at Coffee County Central High School. Benson pitched five innings with three strikeouts, three hits, three walks, one earned run and two unearned runs allowed in the 3-0 loss.
Franklin County's Boston Benson rears back to deliver a pitch during a game Friday at Coffee County Central High School. Benson pitched five innings with three strikeouts, three hits, three walks, one earned run and two unearned runs allowed in the 3-0 loss.
The Franklin County Rebels lost to the Coffee County Raiders 3-0 on the road Friday for their 16th loss of the season.
The Rebels fell behind early in the contest and were shut out for the third time in four games as they ended the regular season with a loss.
The Raiders scored their first run of the day in the bottom of the first off of a two-out RBI single.
The Rebels got their first hit of the contest in the top of the fourth as Sam Vincent reached base on an infield single, but Vincent was later caught stealing to end the inning.
The leadoff batter for the Raiders in the bottom of the fourth reached base on an error and later came around to score on a two-out RBI double to grow the deficit to 2-0.
Gavin McBee led off the top of the fifth with an infield single, and pinch runner Ethan Climer advanced to second on a Graysen McNeese groundout and moved to third on a wild pitch.
However, a hard-hit ball from Caden Brown was fielded by Coffee County’s pitcher and relayed home to tag an advancing Climer out and keep the Rebels off the board.
The Raiders put two runners on to start the bottom of the fifth off of a fielding error and a hit batter with a fielder’s-choice double play allowing the lead runner to score to bring the deficit up to 3-0 late in the contest.
The Raiders were able to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but they were held off the board for the inning with right fielder Josiah Cullins making two diving catches in the frame to help the cause.
Brayden Henley drew a one-out walk to put the potential tying run on deck in the top of the seventh, but a lineout and a strikeout followed to end the contest as the Rebels lost by three.
Boston Benson pitched the first five innings for the Rebels with three strikeouts, three hits, three walks, one earned run and two unearned runs allowed.
Noah Knapper pitched one inning out of the bullpen with one strikeout, two hits, one walk and no runs allowed.
With the loss, the Rebels moved to 9-16 on the season.
Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that he and his players are entirely focused on their upcoming district tournament with a first-round game against Marshall County High School labeled as a must-win scenario.
“We know (Marshall County’s) going to come out and they’re going to play hard. We should be able to take care of business if we show up and we do something offensively,” he said. “The strikeouts have got to stop. We’ve got to start moving the baseball around the park. It’s that simple. If we do that, we can compete and we can win this district tournament.”
The Rebels will next play Wednesday at home against Marshall County in a first-round game for the District 8AAA tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
